Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1887-06-24
THE GREAT BANK ROBBERY
BY Julian Hawthorne, Founded upon
Notes from the Diary of Inspector
Byrnes.
Copyrighted 1887 by o. NJ. Dunham0
CHAPTER |.

On Sunday morning, october ~, 1910,
the sun rose clear. and shone along the
avenues OF New York city. 1t was be-
tween half past six and seven O'Clock
when the light first struck the pavements,
and few people were abroad. On Satur-
day night the weeks work is done, the
wage workers are paid off, and such of
them as can afford it (or think they cam
proceed to relax t themselves with what
ever species of amusement is best suited
to their several tastes. The theatres are
more crowded than on any other night
during the week. and so, likewise, are the
music halls and dives in the lower quar-
tiers Of the city. The liquor saloons do
roaring trade, and their customers, bois-
ferrous with beer and whiskey, are more
apt than at other times to take an airing
beyond the bounds of propriety. The
police who patrol the slums prepare them
selves for extra work on Saturday nights,
and the police stations, as rule, are
more than usually crowded by the next
morning. The minor class of pickpockets
and highwaymen who ply their trade in
the city thoroughfares, do their most re-
munerative work among the Saturday
pocket has money in it, and large pro-
portion of brains are more or less thrown
off their guard by liquor. In short there
is general Saturnalia-or Saturday MALTA,
it might be termed-the reaction from the
six days strain Of business, with the
prospect of sc hours vacation.
But on Sunday morning this scene is
very different The carousers are sleep
ing off the effect of their nights excuses,
and even those who have no such cause
for lying abed are in no hurry to get up
for the sdops and Offices are all closed,
and there is something in prospect more
pressing than an hour in church or a
saunter in the park. The thieves have
gone to their dens to count over their gains
and make plans for the ensuing week, and
even the police abate the sharpness of
their outlook little, and dandle their
clubs with dcgdgee air, as being
merely ornamental appendages. They
have the streets pretty much to them
selves until long after dawn. Here and
there Bridget or Polly hurries along in
her holiday costume, to early mass, or
Hans and Gretchen, with the early habits
of the Vaterland, stroll side by side,
phlegmatic and philandering. And there
is an aristocr looking gentleman, his
evening dress showing through the open
front of his overcoat, his lace pale and
his eyes heavy; he stops at the entrance
of one of the fashionable bachelor apart
ment houses, and stabs at the lock with
his pass KEY. You will not see him at
church to-day, nor in the park either.
There is no one else about now except
the private Sunday Waterman, whose
duty it is TO stand guard during the day
over the banks and business buildings in
she lower part of the city. The employ
ment of these men might seem almost a
SuperfluOus precaution surely those mas
sive and OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES buildinge
would be no less secure without their
presence than with it, at least during the
day time.
The night between the 10Th and 27th of
October, in the year named, had passed
off more quietly than usual, and there
was nothing to indicate that there would
be any alteration in this agreeable state
of things during the day. At half-past
six Broadway, from the Battery to Four
teenth street, was almost as empty as the
corridor of a summer hotel in December.
At about that hour, however, an Italian
peanut vender came down Blocker
street, pushing before him a two wheeled
handcart, containing his stock in trade
On reaching the southeast corner of
Blocker street and Broadway he halted,
uncovered his wares and made his prepar-
atoms for the days business. The cor
ner was good one for trade and the
Italian had not seldom netted as much as
five dollars duringa day. But he could
scarcely expect business to begin quite so
soon. Meanwhile, he leaned his shoulders
against the corner building behind him
and stared idly across the way at the
large, old-fashioned edifice which con-
fronted him on the other side of the
street.
Let US also turn our attention for mo-
ment in the same direction. The edifice
in question was built of brick overlaid
with plaster, painted dark reddish
brown hue it was six stories in height,
and entirely free from any architectural
ornament, except as regarded the main
entrance, which opened on Broadway
This was emphasized by a sort of shallow
portico, apparently of iron, painted of a
darker tint than the plaster and protected
by strong, iron barred gate. Over the
portico, and Immediately below the win
dow of the first floor, was a model of a
beehive, with hess clustering about it, the
whole enriched with gliding, now some
what furnished by the elements. The de-
sign was, of course, symbollcal, being in
tended as an emblem of the wise thrift OF
those who store up their riches against
the Wntry season OF want, instead OF
squanderlng as it came to hand And why
should such an emblem be placed over the
=. doorway of this particular buildingY A
glance at the inscription beneath answers
the question. This is the building of the
Manhattan Savings Institution, one of the
best known and solidest concerns of it,
kind in the city. Its officers and direc
tors are among the most Trustworthy mer
in New York, and behind the steel door
of the great vault are concealed million.
of money, the aggregate of the savings o.
many thousand depositors most of then
persons of very limited means. The Man
haitian Savings Institution has had al
uninterrupted career of prosperity fol
now many years, and its impregnabl,
aspect behind the iron gates gives assur
ance that its fortunate career is destined
10 an indefinite continuance.
Almost as effective for safety as tn,
iron gates are immense plate glass win
dows which extend over the entire Broad
way front of the edfice, to within les
than three feet of the floor. Other win
dows succeed one another along tn
Blocker street side, so that the who'll
interior of the banking room is open t.
the light of day and can be commando
at glance by every passenger on TN
sidewalk. 1t is true that the vault ltsel
Is partly concealed by the screen or par
tition which also covers the space occupie,
Dy the desks of the clerks but he uoul